Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will be starting his two-day election campaigning in poll-bound Gujarat from Friday, 24 Nov, three days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. Modi is scheduled to visit Gujarat on 27 Nov for the last leg of campaigning in Saurashtra and South Gujarat, which will be facing the polls in the first phase.
Of the total 182 seats, 89 seats will go to polls in the first phase of election, to be held on 9 Dec. With only about two weeks left for the assembly elections in Gujarat, Congress is all set for the final leg of campaigning.
With the recent developments in the political and communal equations in Gujarat, Congress has seemed to gain the support of the OBC and Patidars, with both Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel extending their support to the party.
The Patidar agitation leader, who had kept a demand that he will support the party who will grant the Patidars reservation in government jobs and education. As per the recent updates, the Patidars are content with the reservation formula put forth by the Congress and Hardik Patel announced that has pledged to defeat BJP which automatically means directly or indirectly supporting the Congress.
Now with the OBC and Patidars on their side, Congress’s next target is winning the faith of the Dalits, who are also not so happy with the ruling BJP in Gujarat. With this aim. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has kickstarted his two-day tour of Gujarat from today.
As per his itinerary, Rahul will be visiting the Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK), a vocational training institute run by Dalit activists, near Sanand town. During his tour, the Congress leader will also interact with fishermen, doctors, teachers, and villagers on his route covering Porbandar, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mahisagar, Nikol, and Dahod.
As per the media reports when Rahul Gandhi will visit the Dalit Shakti Kendra, he will be will be presented with a tricolor flag made by Dalits, which the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, refused to accept. The Dalits had approached the Chief Minister in August with the intention to present the Tricolour flag to him, as a token from the community to end untouchability. But Rupani refused to meet the Dalit leaders and his office cited that they do not place to keep the flag and did not accept it.
This incident has left a knot with the already unhappy Dalits, with the BJP.
However, when Rahul learned that the Chief Minister had refused to accept the flag, he said that he will be honored to a presented with the tricolor when he visits the DSK. Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi ahead of Rahul’s visit informed that “During his visit, Rahulji will accept a giant national flag, measuring 125 feet in length and 83 feet in height, from Dalit students of the Kendra. He will also address locals and Dalits of surrounding areas at the center.”
He further added that “This is the largest national flag ever made. Though it was meant to be presented to Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, he had refused to accept it when Dalits went to Gandhinagar in August. When Rahulji learned about it, he conveyed his desire to accept the flag with full honor.”
Martin Macwan the founder of the DSK had earlier informed that the giant flag was made by around 100 students DSk student, as an initiative to end untouchability across the nation. “This flag, made from khadi and weighing around 240 kgs, was prepared by around 100 DSK students from Dalit and backward communities. Though we went to Gandhinagar to hand it over to the CM on August 11, he did not meet us. Officials at the Gandhinagar collectorate also refused to accept it, saying they don’t have the space to keep it,” Macwan said.
Talking about the rejection of Rupani, the founder of the DSK expressed distress saying that they felt disheartened, when the CM did not accept the flag, as the community only wanted to spread the message and wanted to urge the CM to do his bit in Gujarat to end the practice of untouchability. He also added that Rahul had informed that he will accept the flag with honor when he visits DSK.
As per the schedule of the Congress Vice-President, after landing at the Porbandar airport, he would start the campaigning by interacting with the fishermen and listening to the problems faced by them. Following this, he would visit the DSK in the afternoon and will then head to Ahmedabad to take part in two separate interactive sessions, one with doctors and medical professionals and another with lecturers and primary school teachers. Later in the evening, he will address a gathering in the Nikol area of the city.
On the second day of his tour, Rahul would visit various villages and towns on his journey covering Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Mahisagar, and Dahod districts.
This is most probably the last leg of the election campaigning by the Congress ahead of the first phase of the polls when 89 seats will face the polls on 9 Dec. The second phase of the elections will be held on 14 Dec when the remaining 93 seats in the central and northern regions would go to polls.
The counting of the votes for both the phases will be done on 18 Dec and the results will also be announced on the same day.